For the Lansing State Journal

Watch it

Julie Bulloch was a high school senior, working in the guidance office that day. That’s when, she recalls, “this little, cocky football player” strolled in.

She had a pleasant, rooted family in Lakeland, Fla.; he was a tough teen who had moved around Alabama, before reaching Florida. They were opposites … and, like in the movies, they fell in love.

Now they’re married, with two kids, a granddaughter … and 33 young people who, at various times, have lived with them. “She’s super compassionate and I tend to be the opposite,” said Rusty Bulloch, who manages to hide his own warmth for a millisecond or two.

That’s at the core of “Bulloch Family Ranch,” a feel-good reality show on a feel-good network (UP) that seems to fit the family’s philosophy. “There are good people everywhere,” Rusty said.

Especially at their home, where they raised two athletic kids. Amanda did softball, basketball, cheerleading and more; Brodie quarterbacked the high school football team to an 8-2 record.

What would happen after they left? “I was actually thinkin’ we’d be out of the kid business,” Rusty said.

Not nearly. When a teen and her mom had tension, they asked if she could live with the Bullochs. That was 18 years ago and others keep arriving. “The maximum we had was three” at a time, Rusty said.

Everyone lived by Rusty’s tough-love rules and everyone did chores. “No one wants to clean the horses’ stalls,” Brodie said. “It doesn’t smell good and it’s not exactly sanitary.”

These two opposites actually have some key things in common. Both are big on God and hard work; Julie says she “grew up around horses” and Rusty says he’s a “country cowboy” at heart.

He’s also a farrier (shoeing horses) and a football coach. That last part has been a big jump for someone who admits he grew up around racial bigotry.

Many of the guys staying with the Bullochs have been football players, including some major ones. Bilal Powell, a fourth-round pro draft pick, has started some games as a New York Jets running back; Claude Davis also was signed for a Jets tryout, then was dropped after a marijuana arrest.

That’s a reminder that life is complicated, “It’s an unending love. ... The door is always open,” Rusty said.

One of the previous guys at the ranch was jailed for probation violation. In the season-opener, Julie invites his girlfriend and their daughter to stay at the ranch.

Amanda Bulloch-Masek, who has a 3-year-old daughter and has had three recent miscarriages, was startled by that. “To have someone move in with a child that is my child’s age and she’s pregnant was very emotional and very hard on me,” she said.

Rusty was surprised, too.

“Trust me, at (51) years old, I know why young people have children,” he said. “It’s very trying to go from (taking care of) 18-to-22 year-olds to a 3-year-old.”

There are also two guys staying with them; there won’t be any more, Julie said, despite all the attention TV has brought. “We’ve probably had at least 150 children offered to us, as young as 6 and as old as 64.”